Lemon Rosemary Scones

I made these wonderfully delightful scones for my holiday cookbook as part of a big Mother’s Day spread, but I knew the day I made them that there’d be no way I’d be able to wait until fall to to share them with you.

Waiting. It’s a problem I have.

When I make something yummy, I want to post it here.

I’m afflicted.

Anyway, these are based on my basic cream scone recipe and are made over-the-top wonderful with the flavors of rosemary and lemon. They’re fresh and herbaceous and so beautiful with the colorful flecks of yellow and green.

Ohhhhh, do I love food. (Have you noticed?)

 

To make the scones, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt…

And sift them together into a bowl.

Then cut up a whole buncha cold butter into pieces…

(Did you know “buncha” is a word?)

(Neither did I.)

Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

 

For the wet ingredients, mix a cup of cream with an egg…

And whisk it to combine.

Zest a lemon and throw it in…

Then mince up some rosemary really finely…

And add that in, too.

Note: It’s great if you can do this first and let it sit/steep for 20-30 minutes or so to really get the rosemary flavor going. It’s okay if you don’t have the time, as the glaze also packs a rosemary punch. But if you do have time, try it!

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients…

And stir them gently with a fork until they come together. Splash in a tiny bit of cream if the mixture is overly crumbly and impossible to work with…but keep in mind that the dough shouldn’t be overly wet.

(Note: Because these photos are part of a big scone spread in my next cookbook, the next handful of process shots are from the basic scone recipe and don’t have the flecks of lemon and rosemary in them. The process is the same for any variety of scone, though!)

(Sorry to shout!)

 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and press it into a rough rectangular shape.

 

Use a rolling pin to keep rolling it out into a larger rectangle, pressing with your hands periodically to keep the shape.

 

When you’re finished, you should have a rectangle about 18 inches by about 10 inches, give or take ten yards.

Use a pizza cutter…

 

To cut the rectangle into 12 smaller rectangles.

 

Then slice each rectangle in half diagonally to create 24 triangles.

Transfer the triangles to two baking sheets lined with parchment or baking sheets…

 

Then bake ’em till they’re done!

Let ’em cook while you make the delicious glaze.

I caught you a delicious bass.

Name that movie.

 

To make the glaze, sift a bunch of powdered sugar into a bowl…

Then pour in some whole milk…

Squeeze in the juice of a lemon…

Then add the zest from that lemon…

And some rosemary.

Whisk it together, and same as before: If you have time to let it sit for 20 minutes or so, it’ll give the rosemary a chance to work its magic.

When the scones are completely cool, dunk them one by one into the glaze…

Flipping them over to make sure both sides are totally coated.

 

Put ’em on a rack to let the excess drip off…

Then let ’em sit until the glaze is totally set!

These are delicious and divine. And the great thing about it is that the glaze, once it’s set, really acts as a seal and keeps the scones fresh for days and days.

Centuries, even!

Not that you’ll get a chance to prove this, because you’ll have them gobbled up way before then.

Enjoy, guys. And I promise never, ever, ever to post another recipe from my next cookbook ever, ever again.

I think.

Here’s the handy printable!

Recipe

Lemon Rosemary Scones

Prep Time:

20 Minutes

Difficulty:

Easy

Cook Time:

18 Minutes

Servings:

24 Servings

Ingredients

• SCONES
• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2/3 cups Sugar
• 5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) Unsalted Butter, Chilled And Cut Into Pieces
• 1 whole Large Egg
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Tablespoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
• Zest Of 1 Lemon
• GLAZE
• 5 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
• 1/2 cup Whole Milk, More If Needed For Thinning
• Zest And Juice From 1 Lemon
• 1 teaspoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
• Dash Of Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Mix cream with egg, lemon zest and rosemary and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes to steep.

Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter pieces into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs. Mix wet mixture with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork until combined. Mix should be crumbly, but if it's too crumbly to work with, splash in a small amount of heavy cream.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary. Final rectangle should be about 18 inches by about 10 inches.

Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form smaller triangles.

Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

GLAZE

To make the icing, add lemon zest, lemon juice and rosemary into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.